About

Jean Dubuffet

French, 1901 - 1985

Artful Hubbub, 1955

Not On View

Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 36 1/4 × 28 3/4 in. (92.1 × 73 cm)

Bequest of Mary Mallery Davis, 1990.21

After training for seven years as a painter, Jean Dubuffet gave up art because he felt that it paled in comparison with the humble activities of the average person. He worked for twenty-two years as a wine merchant, finally resuming painting in 1942. By this time, European cultural traditions had become majorly discredited by the upheaval and atrocities of World War II. Dubuffet found that he was drawn to forms created outside the tradition of fine art, particularly to urban graffiti, tribal art, and the creations of children and the mentally insane.